I will be paid for my poetry

Days have gone when I would perform for free

I am not a circus monkey 

At times for charity or community

I will give of myself generously

You can learn to value me 

In the way that I have learnt

To honour my hard work and creativity

I will be paid for my poetry

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

I find it mystical and amazing

How places hold memories

You can return somewhere

And be flooded with emotion by just being there

The times of your past

Highs and lows

Come rushing back in

As though your body knows

It remembers walking on this whenua

The land is holding your stories

I find it mystical and amazing

How places hold memories

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

Tonight we will shine 

We will bring our life experiences

Share from our stories 

Indulge in the joy of words

Tonight we will soar 

Find freedom in the expression 

Seek to understand more 

Feel the deep feelings 

Tonight we will see 

Allow our eyes to find new things

Savour the opportunity 

Open ourselves to impossibilities

Tonight we will stand 

Taller than we were before 

Set our shoulders back 

Own the space we inhabit

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

When you are a family

Even a unit of two 

There are dreams, hopes and ambitions

You must together work through 

I may desire one thing

My husband another 

So we learn to submit 

Giving preference to each other 

I’ve been wrestling with the tension 

Of passion and success

Wondering why I can’t have both 

If I’m so favoured and blessed 

If the God of the impossible

Is writing my story

Can’t I live in abundance 

While still being a missionary?

Maybe I need to be humble

Laying aside personal ambition 

Go find a regular paying job 

So we can live out the family vision 

Yet why should I have to

If this is my gift and my calling 

I don’t want to resign to normal 

I never signed up for boring

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

When the words I’m repeating 

Over and over

Suddenly have a deeper meaning 

I begin speaking

From the soul

Acknowledging what I feel

Connecting, being real

I have to constantly remind myself,

It’s ok to show my imperfections

I can be a person of faith

And still be honest about doubt

Let the questions draw me deeper

Into surrender

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

As we drive toward today’s work site

We ponder the big questions of life

Like why is there so much injustice?

How can we restore our planet?

What can we do about the mental health epidemic?

We question why earthquakes happen

Does God ever dish out punishment or discipline?

What is our true purpose on earth?

Would things look different if everyone believed

That they have intrinsic worth?

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

We wake early

It is dark and quiet

Our accommodation was well-insulated

The 3 degree temperature outside

Shocks our bodies 

As we drive 

Our eyes find delight 

The hills have been snow-capped overnight

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

Paul – Pilot and Engineer

You showed me me something

While flying to Puysegur

In your helicopter

I had asked about the wind

And if you could only react to the gusts

You said there are a few techniques

That can make the journey less rough

It’s better, you said, to go with the wind

Rather than push against

As that can cause issues 

If you accidentally over-correct

So as we fly over the ranges

Buffeted by the wind changes

I think to myself, this is just like

Dealing with life’s challenges

Often if we push back, cling on tight and resist

We sit with fear and worry, our thoughts growing anxious

Yet, if we relax our arm

Just loosely holding on 

Though the winds of life are strong

Our hearts can find peace and calm

There’s a submission 

To what we cannot control

A working with the elements of unknown

So as with flying, and in life 

We arrive where we are going 

Not by force alone, but by flowing

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

I don’t really count this as waiting…

I’m just being

While he’s busy doing

My feet and my mind wander

I ponder

I pray

He checks, tests, and calibrates

I enjoy a quiet day

Reading, writing, thinking

I don’t really count this as waiting…

I’m just being

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

I live a pretty special life

I get to travel with my husband

View the mountains

From my picnic rug 

Next to the weather station

High vis vests work a treat

Here comes another helicopter

They’ll see me from the sky, 

Relaxing

But really I’m writing

Putting together poetry

While the perception could be

That I’m lazy 

I see this as working

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE